Caged
by AvidAuthor
Summary: April thought that after Casey, she would never love again. She thought that after having her parents taken away, she would never feel again. And after being caged, she had thought that she would never live again. Hopefully, someone has the strength to prove her wrong. AU
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own TMNT.**

It smelled in here. It smelled of sweat, desperation, and fear. So much fear. Metal bars surrounded April.

Some of the caged went insane, banging on the bars and screaming until the men came and took them away to God knows where.

Some sobbed and begged for escape, which came eventually. Just not in the way that they had wanted.

As for April, she kept quiet and stuck to the corner of her cage, avoiding the splatter of blood that had once been inside of a boy named Bernie.

She had kicked his finger away long ago, so at least she didn't throw up every time she saw the spot.

It was no use complaining, or begging. These men had no compassion.

* * *

There was screaming, and almost against her will, April stood and wrapped her hands around the bars.

She peered through, heart beating quickly.

They were dragging a man out of a cage. He wailed, but the men were strong.

They dragged him through the little door. April felt a tear fall out of her right eye and make a trail down her dirty face.

He had been her next door neighbor. John Brooks. John had enjoyed cats and caring for plants.

[ **Author's note** : I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Just a little warning, there are mentions of attempted suicide in later chapters. I don't directly use the word, and no one actually succeeds in killing themself, but it is brought up.]


	2. Chapter 2

No one slept in this place.

April tried, though. She curled into a ball, her thin dress doing nothing to block out the cold.

She and Bernie had used to lay back to back, soaking in each other's warmth.

Of course, Bernie was gone now. When he had fought going through the little door, they had cut off his left index finger. He hadn't really fought back after that.

April had thrown up, much to the disgust of the people in the cages nearby, wasting her precious little bit of food.

* * *

April jolted awake from her uneasy sleep when she heard the sound of a key turning in a lock. It was a slow, heartbreaking noise.

"Please," April whispered, "Please." Her prayers were not answered.

A harsh kick was delivered to her stomach. April gagged.

"Up." Slowly, April stood. The men glared at her, eyes sharp.

In a second, her hands were bound. They nudged her forward, but April felt as if her bare feet were glued to the ground.

One of the men snarled and grabbed April by her hair. He yanked, and April cried out with pain. Another yank. Another cry of pain. After a third yank, her feet became unglued, and she was dragged out of her cage.


	3. Chapter 3

As April walked past the other cages, she saw forlorn faces peering through the bars.

To them, she was just another unlucky person, who, thankfully, got picked before them.

April gazed at the small door. It was made of metal, and it took two of the men to push it open after it was unlocked. In a moment, she was through the door.

The door closed behind her, and April knew that she was dead to all the people on the other side.

Blinking hard, April turned to the room she had never seen.

* * *

There were more cages in here.

April squinted, and she gasped as she saw some kind of mutant pacing in one.

Some cages were hanging from the ceiling, while others were lined up on the ground. And in the middle of all it, there was a huge tank of...something.

It looked disgusting, and April wrinkled her nose at the fact that it glowed.

The men led her forward. There was a man, standing next to the gunk. He sighed, turning to a new page in his clipboard.

"Drop her in," he said dully. April's eyes widened.

"What? No, you can't!"

The same man who had yanked her hair smiled.

"Goodbye."

Then she was pushed.


	4. Chapter 4

April froze as soon as the stuff met her body.

It burned her skin and froze her blood.

She screamed, letting out precious air.

She gasped for breath. Things were growing blurry. She needed air...

* * *

"Guys!"

Donatello looked up. He had turned Michelangelo away, so his young brother did not have to witness the horror of seeing someone get mutated.

"What?"

Raphael gasped.

"The girl. She didn't mutate!"

Donatello stood. He walked up to the bars of the cage and peered out. The men had dragged the redheaded girl out of the mutagen, and she still looked human.

Leonardo frowned.

"She isn't...dead, is she?"

Raph scoffed.

"Nah. They would've tossed her into the rejects bin if that were the case."

There was talking, then some kind of agreement. One of the men hoisted the girl over his shoulder.

Donnie nodded.

"They won't toss her away. They're going to want to do tests on her."

Mikey tilted his head.

"Look, dudes. They're bringing her over here."

The man who carried her bent down and unlocked the cage. He threw the girl in, and she landed with a quiet thump.

"Don't eat her!" The man laughed. He locked the cage, then walked away.


	5. Chapter 5

Wow, Leo. Some girl tells you she's going to faint, TWO times, and what do you do? You let her hit her head." Raph said, shaking his head in disbelief.

Leo swallowed.

"I think she's okay. I'll feel really bad if she isn't okay."

Donnie nodded. As he was checking her neck, he cursed, which was very un-Donnie like.

Raph frowned.

"What's wrong?"

Donnie took a deep breath.

"Look at that scar on her neck, guys. She tried to kill herself."

Raph cursed as well, which was a more common occurrence "Damn. Poor girl."

Mikey blinked.

"She hated her life so much, she tried to end it? That's rough, dude."

Leo rubbed under his eyes. He was tired.

"Ok. Let her rest."

* * *

When April awoke, she touched her head. It hurt. Thanks a lot, turtle man.

She sat up.

She couldn't really tell whether it was night or not, but April felt tired.

She glanced warily at the turtles at the other side of the cage. They were all sleeping. Of course, they might have been pretending to sleep, but April didn't think that was the case.

They all had different skin tones, which was interesting.

The picture that always came to her mind when she thought about turtles was a green lizard-like thing jammed into a shell. She hadn't had the best education in the world. April's only teacher had been too grief-stricken to really teach after having his wife taken.

William Brooks, brother of John Brooks, could probably have told her all about turtles, though.

He had loved turtles. William had been kind of strange, as he had enjoyed walking around with his pet turtle Beatrice on his head.

William had been killed about a week before John had walked through the door. He had refused to cooperate.

April knew that the stain of his blood was still there, just not his body, thank goodness.

April closed her eyes, to trap in the tears. No matter how it happened, no matter who it was, and no matter how many times you saw it, it was horrible to see someone die.

[ **Authors** **note** : Hope you liked the chapter!]


End file.
